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moving wild blackberry bushes?


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Along our street are several wild blackberry vines (or whatever they are called). They are not quite on my property though. Just at the edge of a wooded lot that adjoins my property. They are growing in a place that seems to be heavily mowed in the summer and is mostly a grassy side of the road. I don't know who mows it although I am asking around. For all I know it may have been the previous owner of my home (moved here in Oct) .

 

Since it is a place where they will likely be mowed, I am thinking I would like to dig them up and move them to another place on my property where we could harvest the berries. Do they transplant easily? Would do I need to know?

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These are basically grab & go plants! I pulled some up at our old house (they were poking through the fence). We literally yanked them up, tossed them in the truck for the move across town and casually put them in the ground here without much care. They won't give fruit that first year, but just hang tight and you'll get fruit the 2nd year.

We are now 6 years in and have plants all over the place, some "planted" by birds. :)

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I can't imagine wanting to grow blackberries in my yard! That's because I'm in the middle of a war with the blackberry vines that are threatening to take over our entire yard. But I do understand that in other parts of the country people don't have this pathological hatred of the blackberry scourge.;) But yes - they transplant very easily.

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I have wild blackberries growing all over in my yard. I keep being loath to cut them, but they grow and grow all over in the most annoying places, and propagate themselves like, well... weeds. And they grow out into the yard and grab your clothes and scratch your hands with their prickles.

 

And then the birds eat all the darn berries before you can get to them. :glare:

 

But I still have a hard time being as ruthless with them as I should be... I have a similar problem with wild roses. Basically they're all weeds and pricker bushes to boot, but... they're berries and roses! :tongue_smilie:

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I sure hope they grow as well as otehrs have stated since I'm planning on BUYING blackberry bushes to plant. I've never in my life seen a wild blackberry bush but I'm pretty far North so they probably have a tougher time getting a good start here.

 

How far north are you? I'm in MA and they're everywhere here.

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How far north are you? I'm in MA and they're everywhere here.

 

I'm in southern WI. According to my plant catalog, MA is Zone 6, we are Zone 4. The book says our average winter temps are about 20 degrees colder here which would definitely impact how well a wild bush would spread. The variety I'm looking at is specially bred for cold weather. I'm hoping it survives because I'd love to have them spread even if it meant pulling out extras.

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I love, love, love wild blackberries; however, I would strongly encourage you NOT to plant wild blackberries. The blackberries/marionberries that you can buy at a nursery and plant may not taste can't as fantastic as the wild varieties, but they will not take over your yard in one summer. You really do not want to have wild blackberries in your yard. They grow at an alarming rate and can get out of hand rapidly. It can take several years to actually get rid of the blackberries once they seed in your yard. I used to live very close to Jean, and blackberries were technically a "noxious weed" in our area. The county didn't fine people because they were so difficult to control. We bought a vacant, blackberry infested lot next to our former home. We hired someone with a tractor to grade the property and remove the blackberries; we brought in 6 dump truck loads of dirt and planted grass. My husband kept it looking beautiful; however, we still had blackberries coming up after 7 years of weekly mowings, using chemcials to kill the berries, and digging the berries up by hand. Each year the problem decreased, but it still was a problem. The taste, however, is divine!

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